by Noel | Mar 19, 2013 | CobraHead, Gardening
I’ve wanted an orchard ladder for a long time and I finally got one. They are also called fruit picking ladders or tripod ladders, but there are other tripod ladders out there that are not designed specifically as orchard ladders. The better orchard ladders are lightweight aircraft aluminum and the good manufacturers are just about all on the west coast. That makes it a problem if you are not located near a major fruit growing industry. These ladders are...
by Geoff | Mar 11, 2013 | Gardening
Last month I noticed that a two foot section of sugar snap peas had been cut down almost to the ground. I inspected the damage expecting to see evidence of squirrels or some other mammal, but instead discovered that my arch-nemesis, the leaf cutting ant, had returned. I saw them methodically carrying away pieces of pea leaves, bigger than their own bodies. I have a leaf cutting ant nest somewhere on my property, probably underneath my front porch. I can’t...
by Geoff | Jan 28, 2013 | Gardening
It’s January in Austin and already time to plant early spring crops. I took advantage of the tomato trellis that I used last year to support this year’s snap peas. While cleaning out the bed, I worked around a lemon balm plant. Once I got the bed cleaned out, I added a couple of buckets of compost and created furrows for the peas. I wanted to take advantage of the space in the center of the bed, so I transplanted the Chinese Kale that I had started...
by Noel | Jan 13, 2013 | CobraHead, Gardening
I had two sweet potatoes left over from last year. I had used them to grow cuttings for last year’s garden. They were starting to shrivel up but both had put out numerous long sprouts. The sprouts were rather anemic and one plant had an aphid infestation, but I thought I’d give a try to saving cuttings from both to get a real head start on having lots of good rooted slips ready to go into the ground in late May. Sweet potatoes are tenacious at...
by Noel | Dec 15, 2012 | CobraHead, Gardening
I took the opportunity of a nice afternoon yesterday to harvest the leeks remaining in the garden. I had piled up leaves around them to prevent them from freezing. I could have left them in a while longer, but with rains today and tomorrow, to be followed by some very cold nights, now was the time to get them out of the ground. I used my CobraHead Long Handle to clean away the leaves packed around the leeks. It works well for that task, much easier than trying...
by Noel | Dec 14, 2012 | CobraHead, Gardening
Geologists tell us that Wisconsin was once a land of huge mountains with crests as tall as the Rockies. That Precambrian topography has since gone through quite a few changes. While the state still has some gorgeous and impressive hills, spectacular snow capped ranges are not part of the scenery. I’m working to change that. Here are two mountains of compost covered by our first significant snow of the winter. Just last year, the smaller pile – elev. ...
